2. EARLY LIFE
-His real name is Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg
-Born in Skvyra, near Kiev in 1856
-Born to pious well-to-do Hasidic parents
-Secretly taught himself to read Russian at an early age
-Was sent to a heder by his father, Isaiah until the age
of 12
-When Isaiah became administrator of a large estate in the
village of a Kiev district, the family moved and hired private
tutors for his son
3. EARLY INFLUENCES
-The heder that Ha-am attended was his influence
-He wanted to continue exploring Judaism more
-Ahad Ha-am was interested in the Bible studies that he
was learning
4. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZIONISM
-He was a Hebrew essayist
-Known as one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers
-Mainly known for being the founder of Cultural Judaism
-Ha'am strived for "a Jewish state and not merely a state of
Jews.”
-Ahad Ha'am believed that the reason for settling in
Erez Israel and for being a loyal member of the Jewish
people must come from Judaism itself.
5. -Ahad Ha'am’s ideas were very powerful and many Zionists
followed his teachings, although others opposed and fought
his views.
